Calling Thirteen
by shayxel
Summary: Organization XIII. 13 hearts lost to the darkness, 13 very different people forced to come together to seek the same goal. A group who's origins lay in mystery... until now.
1. Chapter 1

**CALLING THIRTEEN**

**1**

**A Day in Haskell High**

The class chattered noisily as the school bell rang, not that they noticed. They didn't even notice the gaunt, pale figure glide into the room, walking carefully towards the teacher's desk. Dr. Collins gave a sly grin at the fact of their ignorance and slammed his book hard on the smooth surface. The room went silent as many jumped at the noise. "Thank you," he began calmly. "It's nice to know that you are all awake and ready but-"

"Hey, Teach?" a voice called out from the back. Dr. Collins stood tall and noticed the young man in a tattered jean vest. "I think she's asleep." The youth pointed to the red head in front, his long hair covering his face. Dr. Collins frowned and rolled his eyes as he stepped closer until he right in front of the desk, his shadow looming over the young man before him. He bent down and waited, his face just inches above the sleeping teen. The boy awoke, merely opening his eyes in curiosity, to the chill going down his spine as if he was being watched, and his bright green eyes peered up at his teachers. He leapt with a start and began to laugh at his own sudden embarrassment along with the rest of the class. "Sorry, Doc."

The teacher stepped back up and placed his hands on his hips. As it wasn't the first time he'd caught the boy sleeping, he wasn't all that annoyed. He actually found it amusing most of the time. "For heavens sake, Alex, it's after twelve!" The boy's smile faded but the teacher grinned broadly and patted him on the back. "I don't mind you sleeping, sleeping is wonderful, just don't do it in my class." He then addressed the rest of the class, brushing his caramel colored bangs out of his eyes, "Can any one tell me why we don't sleep in my class? Real quick, pop quiz from day one. Yes, no, no one?" Several of the students shook their heads others just stared back blankly, until a girl decided to be brave and raised her hand. "Yes, Kim, why don't we sleep in my class?"

She giggled sheepishly as she answered, "You'll thwack us in the head with your teachers' book?"

Dr. Collins glanced at the large chemistry book on desk and chuckled softly along with the rest of the class at the response. "No, though I am pretty handy with that thing, I have yet to hit a student with it. Small dogs are always fun, but never a student." The teens giggled even more at the sarcasm in his voice. He had already decided today was going to be a free day and smiled at the thought of everyone trying to distract him. If they'd rather get a fun lesson than talk all hour, he'd just loosen things up a bit. "I bet no one will tell me because you want to go over that again, right?" There were a few "innocent" glances and smiles, nods and snickers, so he stepped up to Alex's table again, stole a piece of paper from the boy's notebook and held it up for the class to see. "You mind if I pick on you today?" Alex shook his head and backed up. "The reason, boys and girls, is because of these nifty little faucet looking things at the end of your tables." he held the page above the faucet and with the tip of his finger turned the knob. Several people gasped jokingly as the page burst into flames in the gush of flames, its ashes falling quickly into the sink below the faucets. "Now you all saw how easy it was to turn it on, right? Just a slight push, by your finger, or a shoulder or maybe even your head, and you end up like the paper." He dropped the rest of the page into the sink, let it smother out, and proceeded to spun the knob harder and watched it turn off the flame then continue to spun off the handle into Alex's lap.

Keisha, one of his sweeter students, raised her hand while he was screwing the knob back onto the faucet. "Yes?"

"Shouldn't they get that fixed? That's really kinda scary."

The doctor knew exactly why but he hadn't planned on telling the students. It was still a rather touch subject with most of the faculty but he couldn't just say he didn't know. 'A few of the students already know anyway so what's a few more?' he sat on the edge of the table and gave it a long though before starting. "Good question. Why is it so easy to turn on?" Some of the boys in the back were still talking but the seriousness of the subject caught most of the others attention. "We all know about the strange attacks going on around the country, right? The local government of ours got a bright idea to prepare us for such an act and so the school here had to make some cut back on just about everything so they could fit this high tech security system into the budget. We're not cheap; exactly, just… the board members aren't exactly the brightest people, in my opinion. Let's just say, I'm not too happy with all this. Why not? Well lets see:" he stood up, taking a heroic stance then said with malicious tone, 'Its perfectly fine if a student gets fried, or trips through the stairs or falls victim to one of the other dozen work hazards around the building, but the mere chance that we may be attacked, we can't have that! Sacrifice the kid! We are aiming for the greater good of the population!'" This time he got a few laughs, both happy and nervous. He smiled to let the rest know that he was only joking and explained, "Okay, so no one actually said that, I tend to exaggerate these things, but at times it's almost that bad."

He began to head back to his own desk saying with a false grin, "So anyways, there, don't go to sleep. You can sleep next hour, just don't tell your teachers I said that."

The boy from before spoke up again with a snide remark, only proving he hadn't been fully listening to the teacher's speech. "Yeah, Alexia, don't go to sleep or you may come out lookin' like Teach here."

Dr. Collins tried to brush off the remark as he couldn't let his annoyance get the best of him. That little punk had been a pain since the day they first met. "Thank you, Mullet Head. Now-"

Demy had grown used to that response, which meant he had found just one more thing to get on the man's nerves. Unlike his other teachers he'd found an odd enjoyment in ticking off Dr. Collins. Maybe it was simply because it was so easy. As he had recently found out a fun little tidbit, he wanted to see if he could get a reaction. "You're welcome, Even." He said beaming happily as he waited for the teacher's reaction.

Dr. Collins closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose, a force of habit from when he wore glasses, and turned around. "One, its Doctor Collins to you, Mr. Swan, and two, my name is pronounced Evan." Being called by that only made him nervous, not to mention it brought back some rather not-so-fond memories.

Demy nudged one of his friends mischievously as he now wanted to see how far he could go. "But it's not Evan." He pointed to the boy sitting beside Kim. "He's Evan. Your name's spelled E-V-E-N. Even, like the number two is even or-"

"Or, someday long after you've graduated, we'll meet and then I can get even, but I'm telling you, it's pronounced Evan, even if it's spelled weird."

His friend leaned over and whispered, "Hey, was that a threat?"

The teen shrugged, but seeing his instructor's hot headedness finally showing he thought he'd continue. "Who names their kid Even?"

Now the boy had crossed the line. Unable to keep his temper much longer, the teacher finally snapped back. "What kinda name is Demitre? I'm not your dad, I don't know, and I could care less. All that I do know is-"

"Friends call me Demy." Demy didn't really like his whole name, especially after hearing the few giggles it brought to some of the other students.

Dr. Collins smiled sweetly though the tone in his voice proved his mood to be quite different. "Ooh, I'm sorry." He began to chuckle softly, "I'm not your friend either, Demitre." He could see the little trouble maker wanted to say something. "Now, I'm gonna move you up here with me if you don't stop interrupting me." He blurted out quickly.

Demy grinned impishly, "What was that last part? I, I don't know what you're talking about." Before the man could say a word the bell rang.

The doctor let out a sigh, letting go of his frustration "Alright then, everyone have a good weekend. Demitre, stay here."

Demy bolted out the door, letting out a whoop as he narrowly avoided being stopped by Dr. Collins. Even hurriedly followed the boy out into the hall, calling him back and noticed the punk knocked down a student carrying all their stuff. Demy didn't even stop to say sorry or help the kid up. Even rushed over to help, "Ienzo, are you alright?" He promptly got down on his knees and began grabbing papers.

"Oh," Ienzo had actually been looking forward to avoiding him all day but it was too late now. "Hi, Dr. Collins, I'm okay, I just guess I didn't see him. You don't have to help, I got everything." The boy looked up and gave a half hearted smile.

The crowd of people slowly disappeared as everyone rushed by to leave the school. Even decided not to say anything, as he tried to organize the scattered mess, until he was sure everyone his whole class was gone. "Please, I've told you to call me Even, and besides, it's really my fault you got hit in the first place."

"I know, I've known you, like, forever but its still weird calling a teacher by their first name."

Even mumbled to himself, "If only all the kids here thought that." He helped the young man off the ground and gently pushed the unusually cut bangs out of his face. "I'm a teacher but not your teacher so it shouldn't count, right? There, all better." He put a comforting arm around Ienzo's shoulder as they began to walk, hoping to get the boy to talk. They hadn't seen each other much all year and Even wanted to catch up. "So how is junior year going?" The boy sighed. "About as well as sophomore year."

The man paused, that wasn't good, "Why, what happened? Is it Demitre, I've already got my eye on him so if he does anything-"

Ienzo shook his head giving a wry grin, "That makes two of us. No, well yeah, Demy and his buddies have always been picking on me, but I don't need you to use your faculty powers to protect me. Jerks like Demy have always been there."

Even frowned, "I just don't like to see you get picked on, that's all. You've slowly slipped into this phase where I have reason to worry."

"What phase?" Ienzo pulled away from his neighbor's comforting grasp and stared hard at him.

It happened to be that exact type of reaction that worried him. "I just do, alright? A boy like you needs a parental figure in his life and since you don't have one, I'd like to help. Now I know that you just happening to attend the school I teach at but I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Now since school is out, why don't I walk you home and we can try to get some ice cream or something along the way. I've actually been meaning to talk to you about…"

The two continued to walk down the now empty halls, Ienzo ignoring him by staring at the colorful posters for upcoming events. He had heard this speech before from his "mom" about how he needed "guidance". Even kept going though he knew he had already lost the kid's attention. It just had to be said.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

**Strange Attacks?**

Braig stepped off the plane and looked around cautiously. It seemed so weird suddenly to be back in the "real world" and taking a regular plane like a regular person. He knew it was going to be strange but now that he actually returned from the war, everything seemed so surreal. As he waited for his bags to slide out on the conveyor belt a familiar voice cried out. "Braig! Over here!" A tall blonde waved his hand wildly as he held up Braig's bag. "I already got everything, now come on!" Braig squinted at the man with his now only good eye and smiled. His friend Drulo appeared to be the only one who came for him but he understood why his family couldn't come. It had to at least be after ten by now and home was two hours away. "I suppose I'll just have to surprise them now." He walked up and gave a hug to his long time buddy, quickly letting go so not to draw attention. "Hey, Dru, how ya been?"

Dru stroke his goatee as he wondered if he should tell Braig the truth. "Well, I've been doin' pretty well lately." He then pointed at a large scar on his friend's cheek. "You've obviously been better. How you feelin'?"

"Like I'm finally home after being away to war for two years." He laughed. Dru shook his head. "You got no one to blame but your damn self, you little war loving mongrel. Hey, you planning' on going home right away?"

"Well," He had originally but he also wasn't expecting Dru to be the one to pick him up either.

"You got a long ways to go and you've already been travelin' all night. How 'bout taking a break and let me buy you some dinner. We got a lot to catch up on." Sadly, he did have a point, not to mention, Dru was the cheapest person Braig knew. An offer like this didn't come often.

"Sure, but just dinner," he said before jokingly, "I don't want you thinking this is a date."

Dru played along, "Dang, and I was feeling lucky too." The two men laughed as they left the airport and drove off.

As they sat at the old diner they used to hang out at, Dru talking about the events around home, Braig telling some fun war stories, as he didn't have the heart right then to bring up the graveness of the situation, Dru brought up the unwanted question. "So, what exactly are we up against?"

Braig knew where this was coming from, though he was hopping to be the last one to be called to explain what the little devils were. No one really knew what they were fighting, so many tried to keep the public in the dark by never saying exactly who the 'enemy' was. Not even the military found out not _who_ but _what_ the enemy was until they arrived at the battle site. Braig wondered if he should explain, after all, being back home now, no one would believe him. "Fried oysters." He smiled as he pointed to his plate with a fork. Dru didn't laugh which only showed how much this worried him. Braig frowned but still attempted to avoid answering, "Sorry, sworn to secrecy."

That wasn't the response he wanted. Dru leaned in close, "Look, I'm getting deployed in two weeks. Two weeks! I gotta know who we're up against!" What? With Dru being simply in the reserves, this only further proved the severity of their situation. Dru read Braig's face and answered anyway. "Officials said they've discovered that the enemy has been spotted out on the sea too. The little sneaks may be trying to get past you guys by sneaking into the water ways, so guys like us are being called to prepare for a direct attack here on the main land. Of course with the rising numbers of MIAs they've also called for reinforcements on the battle front."

Braig couldn't help but laugh, "The water ways? I don't think they can swim. Might walk in shallow water but, well I've never seen one in a pool."

"_They, they,_ you're sounding just like everyone else. I need a name that's all. Who are we fighting?" as hard as it was to get Dru in a bad mood, it was always clear when he was upset. Braig knew he should try to tell him the truth but that would only make things worse. A trip down his memory lane could possibly ruin their relationship. He stared at Dru for a moment, who poked at his food with a spoon. How long had he been doing this, keeping secrets as if it was his life source? On the other hand, there was something about his companion tonight that made him think something was being kept from him.

The subject was making them both uneasy, so Braig began to stare off into nothingness and remembered the scenes of "war." Is it really a war when the enemy isn't even human? Little creatures scurrying around like rats, larger ones that could probably eat you if they wanted to, frightening ones that still appeared human but weren't as they crawled up from the sand, swinging their swords madly. "Heartless." He said out loud, bringing Dru back from his own daydreaming. Dru just stared at his friend for a moment, unsure of what he meant. Braig gave a soft but rather forced snort, "You can just call them heartless; heartless beasts that come in all forms and seem like they can't be killed. I don't think we can beat these things. All we keep doing is scaring them away and losing good men to the hordes of them that come up later… and those eyes. Half the time all you see of them is thousands of tiny yellow eyes glaring at you from the darkness. I guess I was lucky for being let go when I did. About to lose my mind out there."

Dru nodded at the last part but otherwise, he was speechless. They sat in silence for a bit, waiting for the check to come and as they headed out the door, Dru finally asked, "So, these things, is that what happened, you know," He pointed to his eye where Braig had his eye patch and stitches. This time the half hearted smile was genuine.

"You know, I was a bit worried that I'd be hard to recognize, but-"

His comrade began to perk up again, "Seriously? How could anyone forget that ugly mug?" An even greater idea came to mind as they both climbed into the truck. "You know, I bet some of the boys would be pretty happy to see you. Most of us were betting on what you'd have to lose before getting sent home."

"Oh really, and what did you say?"

"I bet you'd lose an eye…So come on, for ol' time's sake?"

Braig rolled his eye as he shook his head in disbelief. His friends had become rather notorious when it came to betting on stupid stuff but this was a bit far….he should have joined in before he left. "I really need to be getting home, Dru. I'm sorry but unlike you, I have a family. I need to go or they'll be worried about me."

His friend began to plead, "Spoil sport. You can't even let me collect my winnings? We'll pass the pool hall on the way home. I'll split everything with you if you want… except for the pack of playing cards Gillian bet cause he lost a lot to them in the last poker game. That'd be a bit weird only having half a deck."

"You're a few cards short anyway." The soldier laughed aloud. This time Dru let out a small pout. "Fine, but before you ask, we're not going to stay."

Six games later and the score was tied. Dru swore you couldn't just leave it at that which meant another round. Although, Braig had been enjoying himself, the thought of his wife sitting near the window, waiting for the car to pull up into the driveway, made him want to go home even more. All of their pals had left before them. "Just one more, okay? Winner takes all."

By this point Braig was getting more than annoyed, "What are you doing?"

Dru didn't look at him but instead looked down at his wallet and pretended to look for more quarters. "I don't know what you mean."

"THIS! You're keeping me away from home for a reason. Even you're not dense enough to tell me no more than once." He let out a small growl almost unintentionally and held the cue firmly in his hand.

As much as that stung the man leaned playfully on his pool stick, "You sure you're not just a bit paranoid?" As Braig continued to glare at him, making the blonde rather uncomfortable, he swayed slightly on the stick, debating on how to begin. He was hoping to avoid the matter as long as possible but it appeared his time had run out. "Well… Its about your family." He began to step closer to lend a comforting hand or restraint as the case may be, for Braig's reaction. Instead Braig stepped back, away from his friend. "Have you heard about the latest attack?"

He didn't wait another second. Dropping the pool stick to the floor, pushed passed the blonde he grabbed Dru's keys off the table and made a mad dash out of the hall without another thought. Dru called after him, chasing him outside only to see Braig hop into the truck. And start to drive off. Only vaguely did the war hero notice the growing smaller figure of his friend in the mirror but he didn't stop.

The man didn't care for all that he could think of as he sped away into the night was, "It couldn't be, it can't be… don't let it be."


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

**Life in the Shadows**

**Author's Note!** okay people I just thought that this chapter needed some warnings, nothing bad, just a few things to be said. 1) This is the first couple that is blatantly obviously a couple. If you don't like like romance well so far this is as bad as the romance gets. If you do like romance, good, there is coupling hintage throughout the rest of the fic. XD. 2) Warning: Marlu straightness. If this makes you sad, then I am sorry. Thank you for your time. :3

A scream rang throughout the building, leading dogs to howl and people to stare in wonder at the apartment window. The only thing more interesting than the scream was moments later when Lumaria Copperfield came dashing out of his house, his hair somewhat missing as he had hid it under a baseball cap.

He didn't stop running, except to avoid getting hit by traffic, until he reached the enormous mansion eight blocks away. The guard, though he was a well known "employee" of Lord Budro, was a little leery about letting him through, but the suspicion didn't long as it was clear that Arlene was behind his rage this morning. The young man continued onward to burst through the front door, he had been there enough to treat it as his own home, yelling, "Arlene! Arlene, you better get down here now!"

His voice became the only sound in the building, it's stern yet unthreatening call reverberated around the room. As if it was their cue, all the servants in the room quickly found the nearest doors and vanished. A small, dainty figure appeared at the top of the grand staircase and giggled with a sickeningly sweet tone. "Aw," the young woman said as she leaned against the railing, "Are you looking for me?"

Lumaria's deep blue eyes lit with flames, "Don't start that. You should know exactly why I'm here. Get down here!"

Giggling mischievously, Arlene stepped down until she stood directly before him, gazing happily with her emerald green eyes. Though he roared at her there was a tone to his call in which she knew there was no reason to fear. "Yes?"

With her so close, and that sugar coated smile he suddenly found it hard to be angry. Still, he had come all this way. "Why do I have the feeling YOU have something to do with this?" He pulled off the baseball cap and let his normally long platinum blonde hair fall neatly about his shoulders. Arlene let out a gasp as she put her hands to her mouth, then squealed with a fiendish delight. "Arlene," she turned away from him and tried to stifle her own laughter. "Arlene, why would you do this? Look at me." She did and snorted even louder at his carnation colored locks. "You think this is funny?"

"No," she said, taking a deep breath at last, "Its just… you look so pretty!" She snorted again and continued to giggle hysterically.

"Well aren't you the little lady?" He asked rudely, a tad bitter about the prank.

Arlene took another deep breath and calmed down, "Okay, I'm good. Cheer up, Mary, its not even that bad."

"Not that bad? I look like a girl!"

Arlene snickered softly, "And how's that different from before?" Lumaria glared daggers at her but the girl merely grinned, "Look, if I really wanted to be mean, it would have been permanent."

He lightened up, "Really, you mean this'll come right out?"

"Well, how should I know?" the angelic grin faded away as she placed her hands on her hip. That was never good.

Though mad enough to do something, the youth's mind went blank as footsteps echoed in the other room. Not just any footsteps but a tread that had become branded by fear into his brain. Immediately he pulled his hair back and hid it again under his cap. Arlene bounced toward the door to meet her father. "Hi, Daddy, what are you up to?"

The man smiled at her gleeful expression then turned his sights to the young man. "Nice to see you made it." He walked forward, his shadow broad and ominous. Lumaria suddenly felt small and even a bit scared of what would come next. "Take off your hat, its disrespectful."

"I'd rather not, sir." the young man said sheepishly, taking a step away from the man, hoping to keep his distance. The lord moved closer again, his broad stance even more intimidating as the youth knew that he was in trouble.

"I don't think you have a right to that option. Now, remove it or I'll do it for you." Lumaria bowed his head, taking off his hat and let the shaggy long hair shield his face. He didn't see the man's face and yet he still flinched. Lord Budro was a very vain man and many knew of how he felt about not only his own appearance but of his "property" as well. "What is the meaning of this?!" The lord cried, "Is some kind of joke?" Lumaria didn't get to answer. "I don't find this funny, Copperfield, and I'm sure Lord Vas won't either. I'll give you an hour to clean up before we leave."

"I'll try, sir."

Lord Budro huffed but appeared to have calmed down for the moment as he walked over to a display case and picked up a sickle resting on the top. He looked at it for a moment, gazing at his reflection in the blade, and then tossed it at Lumaria, where it stopped just inches from his leg. "Do you know what that is?" he called across the room. The youth only stared at the small weapon. "This is from when you were working as my gardener; now I gave you chance to step up in life but, if you want to play these silly games, then you can go back to where you came from." Lumaria glanced back at the man and attempted to stand firm against the insults. "You'd be nothing if it weren't for me! Now, you better make yourself presentable for Lord Vas and if you embarrass me, I'll send you back to where you belong." he stormed out of the room, leaving the two in silence. Though he missed his old not so violent job, he didn't really like the thought of how Budro would be sending him back. Ship him in a box? Bury him alive in the garden? The lord was certainly not one to be messed with.

Arlene had been hiding behind the door to the next room this whole time, catching every word and slipped back into the parlor once he father had completely left. Had she not been so scared of him, she may have come out to protect Lumaria. Of course, it wouldn't have gone that well anyway as she would have to fess up to this being all her fault anyway. Now that he was gone, however, she had the courage to walk over to her… friend, and gave a long whistle at the dramatics of it all. "I'm sorry about that. I honestly didn't think he'd get _that_ angry." He turned away from her, stared out the window at the garden, and picked up the sickle. Suddenly, Arlene punched him in the arm. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?!"

"'Cause I knew you'd react like this." He rubbed the sore spot on his arm, "You know you hit worse than my brother?"

"Or maybe you're just that weak." She snapped. He had mentioned looking else where for a job but if her father was taking him, he might not come back. "Now why are you leaving? Do you actually want to leave?" She glared at him, pouting a bit as she demanded for answers.

"Maybe I'm just tired of dealing with spoiled brats and their bipolar dads." A smile came to his face as he looked into the blade of the sickle. "You think he's right? I mean, if dealing with your kind is always like this, I may prefer staying in the garden. I always felt safer there, and after dealing with your dad for the past six months I kind of wish I stayed. Well that and at least then I only had to see you once a week."

Crossing her arms, Arlene let out a small huff and turned to look at the rest of the parlor. The large elegant chandelier had caught her gaze as it shimmered in a light reflected from outside. She continued pretended to be far more interested in it as she rather emptily asked "Why ask me? Its not like I care what you do."

Lumaria shook his head as stuck the sickle in his back pocket. He knew that she cared about what happened to him, that there was something more behind that cocky arrogant tone. Rather forcefully he grabbed her by the shoulders, spinning her to face him and smiled, "Because, if I leave," he began, gently brushing his hand along her cheek, dipping her body ever so gently over the back of the couch. Though it had come barely above a whisper, the almost sweet seduction in his voice made her feel weak.

She blinked up at him, confused and somewhat startled by the new action, asking girlishly, "Are you going to kiss me?"

The gleam in his almost hypnotic blue eyes brightened, "Do you want me to?"

The moment was short lived as a voice boomed loud enough it shook the tinkering crystals on the lighting fixture above, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Lord Budro stared at the couple eyes wide with shock, his lip twitching in sudden rage as he tried to hold back a snarl. Both Arlene and Lumaria gazed up in fear and alarm, as the beast of a man charged forward. Neither one could think, or move for that matter, as he rushed up, tore them apart, and began to drag the youth towards the door. Arlene ran after them, trying to plead in his defense only to have her cries fall upon deaf ears. Lumaria continued to struggle but to no avail. It seemed there was no saving himself this time.

Lord Budro stormed through the grand entrance and headed straight for the garden. "I warned you." He huffed, by this point practically dragging the young man through the dirt. He was surprisingly strong and fast for a man of his age. An almost inhuman strength as he continued without pause and Arlene was falling far behind. Finally reaching a stopping point the grabbed Lumaria by his hair and jerked him to his feet. "You may no longer live on the streets but stay the hell away from my daughter," he growled, his breath harsh on the youth's face as he was just inches away. "She's not to be with some peon like you." With that he flung Lumaria away, not even caring as the young man hit his head on the cold stone bench and tumbled unconsciously into the flower patch behind it. "There. Know your place!"

Arlene had arrived in time to see this and screamed as she tried to run over to see if he was alright, but her dad wrapped his arm around her waist and began to carry her away, back into the mansion. Storm clouds billowed overhead; a storm of some sort was coming.  
It wasn't long after, as Lumaria lay in the small patch of chrysanthemums, looking asleep rather than wounded, a few small curious little creatures peeked out from under the house, under the bushes, and began to gather round. Their antennae perked with the energy they sensed and no one would learn what happened that day, as Lumaria all but disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

**A Loss to the Darkness**

Braig swerved the truck to an abrupt halt almost as soon as he reached town. The road lay broken, cracked in the destruction and rupturing of the ground itself. A few neon lights still flickered in the dark and silent city. He would have to continue on foot, sadly, it would probably be safer that way. As the old soldier wandered the empty streets of Winterstance, gazing in slight wonder at the destruction everywhere, he attempted to shake the fear, the chilling pang in the back of his mind that told him what had truly happened. Cars sat abandoned in the middle of the roads and a few lights blinked and even sparked but otherwise, the whole place was barren of life. The same reckless fissures could be seen in the sides of buildings. The creatures hadn't caused this, that much he knew from the battlefield, but the people in their panic had only made it worse. Had it really been so long? Why didn't anyone tell him sooner?

He continued on, almost in trance as his mind clouded with mixed emotions and fragmented thoughts, until at long last he found the familiar steps to his house. With his gaze solely on its dilapidated state, he hurried through the shattered doorway. "Sara?" He called into the dark, not even the wind answered in the condemned home, "Bridget?!" He continued further into the house, peering into the dark corridors and called in some slight hope that there was someone, anyone else in the building. Soft curtains waved in the moonlit windows in ghostly fashion, but here was no one. At long last he heard a response, the swift sound of skittering upon the tile floor. Braig pulled out a gun from his bag, his one life source in this forsaken place and quickly loaded it. "Show yourself!" As he had suspected, a small pair of glowing yellow eyes peeked up at him in alarm. The tiny shadow immediately scurried outside and joined several others of its kind outside. He followed stealthily, carefully looking down the steps at the few sets of lights that had gathered. Then came another set, and another, all of them huddled around a single object at the bottom of the front steps. Braig tensed up, treading closer, with a subtle chill at what the object could be. He could just make out the creatures' antennae wavering with subtle but disappointed curiosity. "What are you all looking at?" He asked anyway, cocking the gun in demand that they move. As the little beasts didn't seem to understand, he fired at the one closest to him and they all disappeared into little orbs of darkness, revealing the woman they had surrounded. "Sara!"

Braig dropped the gun, ran down to the stiff pale body, and held her in his arms. "Sara," he spoke gently, clutching her closely, letting the icy feel of her cheek touch his. She had been dead for awhile, but he didn't care. It was obvious that she had fallen down the stairs, perhaps she was trying to flee. She was so small, so frail in his grasp, he was scared he might break her. The monsters, they had to pay. This wasn't supposed to be her fate, but his. He clung tighter to her, taking in a breath deep and trembling, as he began to rock her in his arms. As he sat on the bottom step, stroking her hair as his mind clouded with grief, a few small lights returned only to blink at the new subject. He finally took note of the visitors, a new feeling taking hold of his reason, and bared his teeth. "So," he began, his voice quivering with rage, "this is how it is. This is how you work!" Tears began to form as he glared at the lights quickly gathering around them, no longer afraid of the beasts. "You attack our towns, and feast upon the dying! You scavengers!" he began to laugh, maddened with the growing sorrow, and fired madly into the mass of lights. The clusters swiftly darted around, but more came still. "You can't have her, though. You can't steal the heart that no longer beats!" He laid the body back on the steps so that he could carefully aim at the individuals and watched as they disappeared. 'Why, why won't they die? Why did they just run instead of facing him like men?' As the tiny lights began to vanish, however, several bigger, more human figures began to come forward until suddenly he came face to face with the large despicable creature wearing an orange vest.

"You!" He pointed the gun to one of its eyes, return the favor. "You're stronger than the others so maybe you know. Where is Bridget?!" The beast bounded at him, so he fired in response making it pause, stunned. "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!" To charge at him was the only reply. This time, however, as he dodged his fat opponent, the rest of its unit came forth. Braig fired again, only to learn that he had run out of ammo. He pulled out a pistol from his side pouch and fired a few more times as he gazed upon the body of his beloved wife one last time. As much as pained him to do it, he ran, kicking off the little ones that tried to jump on him, dodging the fat ones with ease. There were so many of them and more dangerous looking heartless appeared by the minute. There seemed to be no where they couldn't reach, as he felt the shards of glass and pieces of brick crunched and shift beneath his feet as if trying to trip him, but he couldn't let that happen. How would he avenge his family if he were to fall now?

Suddenly, he came up to one of the shops and on instinct he tossed both guns onto the overhead tarp and leapt up before the little shadows could grab his legs. He swung himself up, and picked up picked up the weapons. The creatures stopped short, a few seemed to even look up at him as he took the time to reload the guns. A dark blue and red soldier appeared in the window just below him, a few indistinguishable yellow eyes accompanied it. Braig had to keep moving, away from the demons. He leapt again for a higher edge and promptly continued to the roof of the next building. As he tried to focus intently on inserting the bullets into the two guns, his mind drifted off. Why here? Why now? Why did they have to harm so many if all they really needed was him? But worst of all, why did he run? He knew what they wanted, that he had every reason for them to take him, and yet he still fled.

Again he found himself forced to step out onto a tarp, and smirked at the strange beasts that followed slid off. The vested leader stood on the roof just below him and blew a trail of flames up at the stand. Braig fired a few more times at it before he had no choice but to jump away from the blaze, plummeting towards the hell hole below. Dozens of squeaks and hisses filled the air as thousands of sharp claws and wild swords rose up to capture him. Some couldn't wait, lunging from the windows nearby or upward with the aid of any comrade who couldn't reach that precious dark energy within. Braig continued to fire madly into the void though he knew it did nothing. He just couldn't go down without a fight, just couldn't let himself be taken into the monsters' hold. He let out a moan for the pain they brought, biting and clawing at his cloths and soft flesh, but no more. He didn't care, couldn't care anymore, as suddenly the heavy burdens of his heart was lifted.

Dru glanced around in a panic as he ran passed the dozens of flickering lights, a sense of dread that he might be too late. Knowing Braig, he had done something drastic, and in a place like this, a simple mistake could get him… killed. The thought provoked a sharp pain for the blonde, the thought of losing someone so dear. Maybe if he had found a different way to tell Braig about the town, or found a way to keep him at the pool hall, but no, there was no point in fighting with the past. All that mattered now was finding his most likely sounded friend before it was too late. The cab driver, who took an extra twenty just to convince him to go anywhere near that ill-fated place, was already long gone, leaving the two men to find their own way out. Tiny eyes followed this new stranger as their more vicious comrades had arrived on the scene. Dru ignored the creepy feeling of being watched, not wanting to slow in searching for his lost companion. Besides, if he saw the little monsters for himself, what could he do? He had no weapon, only a vague feeling of where to go, and yet he still went. There was something more driving him on, a feeling he couldn't describe as he passed the empty buildings and a few bodies that had been flung, or dragged, from wrecked vehicles. To a soldier, the scene wasn't exactly new but tonight, it bothered him. If anything were to happen to Braig…

He froze in his tracks in slight astonishment at the sudden burst of flame not too far off and wondered what might have caused it. His instincts, perhaps his heart, told him to hurry and as he dashed onward, his attention immediately moved to the figure above the flames, the man he knew so well. It didn't matter what the cost, Dru couldn't just let him descend into the dark pit. The creatures seemed to be flying right at him, despite the rain of bullets. It was almost as if he couldn't hurt them, and without warning, Braig jumped.

Dru began to charge into the crowd, desperately trying to make it before Braig landed. In this race against time, and fighting his way past the horde of tiny hands reaching up for him, he could feel something slipping away. He looked up only to catch sight of a small red light briefly appear in the sky near where Braig was captured, a light that quickly faded into the swarm of darkness which closed around him. Dru froze as he held his breath. He had arrived too late. Too late to save Braig and he was too late to save himself now. What were these things? These wicked creatures that ceased to have their fill. "Heartless… you can just call them heartless." Dru turned just in time to see these 'heartless' coming up behind him. In his pause for thought, quite a few had gathered around. One lunged at Dru, and began clawing at his jacket. Instinctively, he pulled off his jacket, tossing it and the little beast to the mass, and took off. There was no way he was going to run out now, not when he came this far. There was still hope, there had to be. The little monsters were temporarily distracted by the coat but once they realized it held nothing for them, they continued in pursuit. On the other hand, Dru took note of their short attention and tossed them his shirt next. There would be little point in keeping it if the little beasts captured him. In all logic he should have tried to leave town. There was always the chance they wouldn't follow but that same feeling that had led him here drove further in until at last he had reached the exact spot where Braig should have been, but there was nothing. Nothing more than the fat brute and its minions that were responsible for Braig's disappearance.

All the beasts had turned their eyes on him. What else could he give in an attempt to escape? As they stepped forward, he felt the hard box in his pocket and pulled out the deck of playing cards he had won, the ace of hearts on top. 'I got nothing.' he thought sadly. Looking out at the ocean of tiny lights flowing towards him, he knew it would all end soon. He didn't whine, or moan or even tried to call for help. Instead his eyes drifted over to the clock tower almost directly ahead of him. His time had run out. 'Time,' he thought, 'it's the one thing I never seem to have enough of.' he said with a laugh, only to stop with the sudden pain in his chest. The creatures had come. Instinctively, he clutched his hand to his heart, an action that would soon be futile, and fell backward into the sea.

-------

A/N: I love leaving notes, can't you tell? Any ways, a late Happy Hallowe'en to you all, I suppose I could have done something like an actual hallowe'en post or whatever but... yeah. I thought it was weird that this was next to be updated any way. And, its scary! Boo! Oh, and I'm still a little iffy on my writting so if anyone has any tips for improvement, I would greatly appreciate it. Okay, I'm done now.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

**The Mad Man's Secret**

The guards stood at attention, though most were tempted to gawk, as the silent giant strolled past. It was strange to see him, 'The Silent Hero' here, this far from town. Why in the world would he want to come here? Though they had been having some trouble with one particular resident, it didn't appear that Aeleus was here to help. Today he was on a mission quite unlike the deeds that earned him his name. Today, he had to take care of some long unattended business. Today, he was merely a visitor. Here, no one knew, or cared, who he was, which was a good thing considering where he was.

As he wandered down through the halls, trying to ignore the screams, the random cries, the pounding on the doors, and the men running by to attend to them, he at last arrived to a familiar face. The young guard, named Roscoe, simply smiled. It had been awhile since they last met, and began to walk beside him, explaining the situation. Few knew, barely a handful, that Aeleus had a secret. The two stepped up to a large metal door and the guard opened a tiny window to peer inside. "Hey, hey," he knocked on the door once before there was any response.

"LEAVEMEALONE! I'mnottalkingtoyouremember?" The guard scoffed before turning to the man, then back to the window.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have to tell your guest here he has to go home. You won't talk to me so," there was a sudden scurrying inside the room as the man within hurried to the door.

"Ihaveaguest? Me? Whoisit, whoisit, whoisit?" He was talking too fast for the guard to catch all of it, but he stepped back so the man could see. Aeleus forced a smile at the bright blue eyes peering at him through the tiny slot. They seemed to light up with a giddy delight as the man panted in his excitement. "Welldon'tjuststandthere, fool, let'imin!"

Roscoe shook his head, smile at him, then turned to Aeleus. "You sure you want to go in there? He's not calm but at least he won't hurt you." He nodded and waited patiently as the door was unlocked. It always did make him uncomfortable to see Dilan in his current state: bound in a straight jacket in this tiny room, but the guard was always kind enough to release the man when ever Aeleus came to visit, as well as stay outside. Dilan didn't need to be watched when Aeleus was there.

"Where have you been? I though you forgot me." After years of dealing with him, Dilan's hyper speech patterns were easy to understand. It came natural, along with ignoring the sudden jerks and twitches. "Being brothers, I thought you'd be nice enough to come visit at least once a week. That isn't much. Don't you miss me?"

"Of course I miss you, but I've been busy. No offense but I can't come see you everyday." He stared down at the floor, almost ashamed that he had to be reminded why he was here. Few knew he even had a brother, and fewer actually knew where Dilan really was. "I'm sorry its been a while but I'll make up for it."

Dilan perked up and inched closer, "Does that mean you got me something? I like presents, did you get me a present?" As a matter of fact he did, but whenever the man got like this, it was debatable as to whether he could give him anything. "What is it? You can show me, please? I promise I won't hurt anyone, I swear."

"I don't know…" Aeleus tried not to smile at his elder's suspense. It was almost cute sometimes when he got so childish.

"I'm not even allowed to use nail clippers, what could I possibly do in here? Come on, I would never hurt you, you know that, right? Please, please, please?" He began to pout. Aeleus let out a soft sigh. 'I can't believe my older brother has to beg. Why do I have to be the mature one?' Dilan began to whimper.

"You remember what happened last time?"

Dilan just grinned innocently, "No one remembers what happened last time, you're not supposed to either. Besides, most of those guys don't even work here anymore. Now please, I promise to be good." he clasped his hands together and waited. After a few moments of thought, Aeleus gave in, pulling a chocolate bar out of his pocket. Dilan immediately snatched away and took a bite, wrapper and all, then promptly spat it back out. "I knew you had a chocolate for me, you know how much I love it." As the mad man chewed and chattered, his brother quickly grabbed to candy back and opened the package before giving it back. "So," he took a moment to swallow, "So, tell me about the outside world. I love it when you tell me about your adventures. What's been going on lately, they don't tell us anything. I don't have a window either, so tell me, tell me, tell me." He began to bounce in place with anticipation carefully taking his time sucking the caramel filling out of each individual chocolate square.

Aeleus rubbed the back of his neck, "For starters, a lot of strange folks have been showing up in Traverse Town lately."

"Strange? Strange how? Like me or do you mean their strange looking? Have you talked to any of them? Are they even human? If not, I may actually know what you're talking about." Once he had finished asking he went back to draining the candy of its caramel while rocking in place.

"Uh… hmm. There are these things called moogles that I've seen but otherwise the strangers are human… as far as I know."

"Moogles, sounds like a funny sort of hat, or a rodent even. No, those aren't what I was thinking of, so go on. Have you talked to any of the new folks, find out where they're from or how they got here or anything? Oh wait, you don't like to talk to strangers so I guess that's out of the question. Have any of your friends found out anything about the strangers? You do have friends, right? I can't remember, I don't think I met any of them."

True, Aeleus had never introduced Dilan to any of his friends, and only one or two even knew he wasn't an only child. They were the ones who knew about Dilan's breakdown. Of course, he had made a new friend or two with the strangers but when they mentioned where they'd come from it didn't seem so strange. At least, not to him. Sure he had never heard of New York City or Dark Ages, or even Land of Dragons, but as he had never really gone too far from Traverse anyway, he didn't think too much into it. Dilan began to bounce in anticipation and slight annoyance that his brother hadn't answered yet. "Is it possible they came through the door?"

Aeleus let out a deep sigh. He had heard all about this "door" and was hoping that by now Dilan had forgotten all about it. The stupid thing is what landed him there in the first place. "You mean the front gate, right?" Dilan glared at him. "No? Dilan, no one is ever going to come through a door that doesn't exist."

The mad man's glee vanished as if blown away in the wind. "I can't believe you don't believe me!" He stood up, turning his back on his brother and walked over to the back wall of the room. "We're family, you're supposed to trust me."

"I do trust you but-"

"You think I'm crazy too!" Aeleus lowered his eyes to the floor. Dilan took a huge bite of chocolate to give himself a moment to calm down. He didn't want to be rash but… He had been here for three years now, the least Aeleus could do was try to be nice. "I know what I saw. Just because no one else was around at the time doesn't mean it didn't happen. I'm not crazy and you of all people should know that."

"I never said you were," his guest said softly. It hurt that Dilan took this all so personally, and yes, he did think the guy may have actually lost it at some point but Aeleus would never be so vicious to tell him that. "Its just that, well, you claim to have found a door to some inter-dimensional portal in the fountain in town square. That's hard for anyone to believe. I'm not saying there is no door but are you sure?" He didn't deny its existence but if there was a door like the last one, the town could be in some trouble after all.

"I designed that fountain! I even created a way to change the picture by ringing the bell and I can tell you that in all the mechanisms there wasn't any door." Aeleus rolled his eyes and made himself comfortable. Dilan was going to explain what happened that night …again. "I thought I'd be nice and change the picture in the fountain. It was late and no one else was out so I figured now would be a good time as everyone was asleep. If no one noticed in the morning, fine, but I was tired of the flowers. I climbed all the way up into the tower, rang the bell, and went back down to admire the new display only to find out that there isn't a picture but a keyhole! You should have been there, Aeleus, inside was a light too beautiful to describe and, beyond that, a darkness that even the night would fear. I didn't lose my mind, it was opened. Opened to the new and wondrous possibilities! Our world is connected to others and I believe we should look into that. I wanted to get away, to find a way to explore into this. I couldn't just leave the door unwatched though, and so I went up to the tower as fast as I could and closed the door. I'd show you, you can check for yourself but I am telling you to believe me." He turned around, his face saddened at the thought, "I need you to believe me."

"The picture can change? You never mentioned that before. Look, no one has been up in the tower for years, the bell doesn't even work." Dilan just stared at the wall in discontent. He knew why it didn't ring, he had been too afraid that someone would find out his secret. Once he learned that they were locking him away, far from town even, he had to work fast to ensure that not just anyone could open the entry. He managed to seal it, just barely as the police arrived at the tower tackling him to the ground as they though he went up there to jump. He scoffed at the thought: him, taking such a wimp's way out. No, he had to ensure that no one could find it, especially the creatures in the dark. The door was far too precious to be revealed. Aeleus stared at him a moment, wondering what could possibly be going through that twisted little mind of his, and shrugged. "I suppose I should be going."

Normally, if they got in an argument, simply saying he had to go would send Dilan into some sort of pathetic frenzy to get him to stay. Dilan had always had some issues with being alone but being locked up in this hell hole only made it worse. This time he simply turned around, and, for the first time in a long time, he said very calmly, "Perhaps you should." He kneeled down beside the back wall and gently pulled a piece of paper out of a small crevice. "Here, I kept this hidden from everyone, this was the only place to keep it safe." Aeleus unrolled the page then looked up at Dilan without even reading it. Dilan explained. "I found it on the ground after resealing the door. I think it came through the portal. Now, you should be heading home now, right?" Aeleus nodded, for once it wasn't that he didn't feel like saying anything but was too startled by his brother's strange behavior to find anything to say. "Chris, the guard at the exit, has a present from me to give you. I can't give it to you personally 'cause no one trusts me."

The guard outside had over heard and opened the door. Normally, he had to brace himself for when Dilan tried to run after Aeleus as he tried to leave. Aeleus looked at the door then back at Dilan who still had his back turned to him. "I'm sorry you have to be here, but it's for your own good, you know?" He stepped through out of the room and looked back to see if he caused any response. Dilan glanced at him, a wicked gleam in his eye, and then the door was shut.

Aeleus wasn't sure what to think of the strange reaction from his brother, but the guard spoke first. "He seems pretty calm." The two walked quite a ways away, too far for Dilan to hear what he said next. "I don't know what or how you do it, but at least tonight he won't have to be restrained." Reaching the end of the hall they had to part, Aeleus knew the rest of the way. Coming to the door, one of the guards stepped up to stop him.

"I'm Chris, are you leaving?" he nodded, "Good, then that means I can give you this." He told the man to wait as he went into the back room to get the gift. He returned with an odd package all wrapped up like a real present with a letter attached labeled: open when you get home.

"Do you know what it is?" The look on the guard's face said yes.

"Its some kind of ax. He said you need to protect yourself but we couldn't let him have it. Any idea why you need protection? He didn't tell us anything except to make sure you got that." Aeleus took the gift from him and looked over it carefully and shook his head. Chris shrugged then opened the door for him to leave, shutting it right behind him.

The train wouldn't be coming back for quite some time so he decided that he should be heading home. It was only six miles after all…

Aeleus wandered into town, through the emptiness of town square, and wondered. It was strange to find it completely bare. Traverse was, after all, a town that never slept. Many of the "foreigners" said that perhaps it was because the town had no conception of time, as it was always night. He usually just shrugged at the comment. So what? Even though the town never had a bright blue sky, (he couldn't imagine it with one anyways) it was never dark either. At the thought, he looked around the square, at its bright neon lights and streetlamps, the stores that were always lit up even if they were closed. Even the hotel had several rooms with lights still on, especially if there was no one in there.

Normally he wouldn't let Dilan get to him, but after having his memory refreshed of what the mad man claimed to have happened, the barren square made him quite iffy. He thought the place was never empty, one of the reasons Dilan's story was hard to believe, but now that he actually saw it for himself, he began to wonder. As he looked up at the tower. It was only two in the morning… where was everyone? Maybe, just maybe… He looked at the package. Open when you get home. He frowned. This was pretty close to home though… and perhaps Dilan had left instructions on what to do to make the bell work.

He began to unwrap the brown paper, all the while picturing the tower all filled with cob webs and other unpleasant things due to neglect, and took hold of the ax. No body would object to it, after all many of the strangers came in with weapons of their own, and then he opened the letter.

Hey, bro,

I don't know just how bad life is outside or how bad the creatures are, so you need to protect yourself. It saddens me that the times are getting worse but I have learned of a way. The report that I gave you states that only the key bearer may fight back the darkness. I tell you this so that if you meet him, you may aid him. As for me, I cannot stay here any longer else I'll lose my mind completely. I hope you enjoyed your last visit. It should be your last. Tonight, I am leaving this world… Either I make it back to the door, or die trying. Please, don't worry. Oh and, don't bother telling our folks, they probably wouldn't know who you were talking about anyway. See ya around someday.

Dilan

Aeleus crushed the paper in his hand and dropped it, the wrapping and, the "report" to the ground. Dilan was in trouble, so were the guards. He turned around and began to run as fast as he could in hopes of making it in time.

**A message from Shaxel: yeah, things are getting pretty bad for these guys. Also, if you can guess who these two are, more power to you. gives cookies I know personalities may be off a bit (okay, maybe alot) but its more fun that way, right? Enjoy!**


	6. The Test

**6**

**The Test**

All was quiet in the asylum so no one would suspect the oncoming chaos that would soon ensue. Dilan had been sitting in his room, sitting in the corner, waiting for his moment. The guard peered inside, noticed that he had curled up in the back of the room and let out a sigh. On an upside he would only be around for another hour or three before it was time to go home. Or, he may stop for a few drinks on his way back. Figuring his charge had finally gone to sleep, he leaned against the wall and began to doze. Dilan took note of the soft weight on the door and crept carefully to the door. There wasn't a lock on his window, the place planned to fix it but they hadn't gotten to that yet, so he pressed against it and peered out. Just as he thought, the guard positioned himself perfectly.

He glanced as far down the hall he could see, praying no one was looking, then took a chance in thinking that ol' Hodges outside wouldn't be sleeping if someone was around. Stealthily he slid his hand through the slot on the door, and wrapped it abruptly around the man's neck. The guard began to struggle but Dilan had him in a death lock. The guard finally stopped moving, and as he fell the inmate made sure to rip the keys off his neck before letting his victim slide to the floor. Now was the time. Now or never.

Within moments he was out, free. Free form the ever watching eyes of the guards, free from the painful bindings, and out of the small windowless room. He fled, as fast as his legs could carry him, down the hall, cackling as the guards for the new area ahead stood stunned for a moment before calling for help and chasing after him. "Back up, I said we need back up! Fuller's out and loose!" There came no response on the radio, but Dilan heard the man calling for them. He suddenly realized that he heard the orders being barked in two different places at once. More guards weren't too far away.

As the mad man turned the corner, and tried not to laugh as the guards on his trail flew past, he suddenly, he heard a terrified gasp as a soft red light shined behind him. He spun around just in time to see one of the guards fall to the ground, a heart shaped light hovering above his chest. Dilan watched with morbid fascination as the fragment of light began to transform into a miniature soldier in blue and red garb, within the helm was blackness. Was this…a heartless? The small soldier placed its feet on the ground and began to run at him. If it was one of the creatures that everyone feared so much, the man didn't want to stick around to find out if it was hungry. Dilan ran out of the small hallway bewildered more than anything, and continued to run. He didn't even look back as the guards firing at him gave what may have been their last breaths and tried desperately to ignore seeing what that growing sound of clinking armor could be.

Some of the inmates were cheering him on, shouting for him to run. Others were screaming for help in the dark and little shadows streaked out through the tiny windows silent rooms. The mass was gaining on him, why did they want him? Was it because he knew their secret or did they know his? Or was it because, they knew he... No, he couldn't allow himself to be caught, he just couldn't. He didn't know much about the heartless, besides the basics, but if he became one of them… "Stop that!" he thought as he panted for more air, _'If they catch you, you must forget. They can't be allowed to find it!'_

_Meanwhile!_

Aeleus ran at a steady pace, he knew better than to tire himself out with two miles left to go and Dilan still to face. The dark figure of the Sander's Mental Institute was in sight, but what he saw made him stop in his tracks. Nearly all the lights in the building were flickering off and on, as if dozens of large figures were rushing past or someone was playing with the lights. That sort of thing had been known to happen but the whole place at once? "Egad, Dilan, what have you done now?" He let out a soft sigh and began to trot once more.

A set of headlights lit up behind him. He glanced back and found a semi truck speeding at him, only to catch a pair of golden eyes glaring from the cabin. He jumped out of the way, fortunately, and watched in amazement as the vehicle sped onward An odd creature, as it couldn't possibly have been human, leapt away from the truck as it swerved off the road. Aeleus ran towards it.

The thing had toppled onto its side, which had prevented it form rolling all the way down hill. Aeleus cautiously treaded towards the cabin of the truck and peered inside. Nothing. There was no driver. Thinking that maybe the person had been flung from the compartment, he began to look around at the objects that were scattered about from the crash. There was no sign of a person though. He then thought that maybe the person had fallen downhill. As much as he needed to help out the institution, he couldn't just walk away from the wreck either. Aeleus slowly stepped forward, the hill was rather steep, and peered down. Without realizing it was there, he accidentally stepped onto a stray piece of half eaten buttered toast and slid down. Down, down he flew, too startled to scream (he never was one to scream even in his terror), as he skated faster and faster down the slope. He didn't truly worry until he saw the large dirt mound at the base, too big to dodge and him, too fast to stop. Perhaps he would have let out some cry, just perhaps, but it only took a few seconds for him to spiral out of control and smash into the pile of compacted soil. The earth toppled on top of him, sending up a flurry of brown dust.

Aeleus coughed, moaned at the pain all over his body from the impact, and gazed up at the sky. He couldn't move for a number of reasons, but it didn't feel like he had broken anything. Suddenly, he felt a shift in the air and looked up at the hill he had just fallen down and noticed a few strange shadows coming towards him. Their bright eyes focused on him. He began to glance around for something, anything… did he bring that ax down here? The ax that Dilan had given him was barely in reach, so he had to finger it a bit before he could get a hold on the handle. Managing to lift himself just a little under the weight of the soil, and threw the weapon at the figures. He had to buy some time to at least crawl out. Much to his dismay, the ax actually bounced off of the fat one and spiraled back at him like a boomerang. It missed him thankfully but the little ones that were with his target began to march forward. It was no use, he was trapped, surrounded by the strange beings and encased by the soil from the waist down. He could move, he couldn't think, and soon he lost everything.

_Back to Dilan! _

Dilan was running out of stamina and, as the institute was running out of employees, he was also running out of options. He gazed up at the ceiling, searching for an answer and found an unexpected response. Up ahead, not too far, were the bars to the ventilation system! As if it were fate, a guard was standing almost directly underneath it, stunned by the mass charging directly at him. Since the guard was frozen, Dilan ran up and spring boarded himself off the man's chest and grabbed onto the bars of the vent. The mass continued to rush underneath him.

He let out a sigh of relief as he dangled for a moment, watching as the guard below vanished in the living river. Suddenly the grate began to come loose. Beads of sweat began to form on hi forehead as he stared at the metal bars bending under the pressure. One side finally snapped open almost causing him to drop with the abrupt force. On the one hand, the grate had opened up to the vents. Dilan decided to take the risk and rocked gently in hopes of moving close enough to grab onto the vent itself. Once he had a firm grip, he let go of the grate, surprised to see it didn't fall, and dragged himself through the opening.

It turned out that inside was pretty roomy, not large enough to stand in, but at least he had space to move. He took a breath then crawled into the new darkness of the tunnels. He had long been planning to do this, but was a better time than any, as the air had been turned off due to the rather cool whether of late, and the attack, though he never would have planned on that happening, provided a ruckus big enough so no one would hear him in the air ducts. There was only one slight problem, when the grate fell not long after he disappeared into the darkness the stream had already passed. The loud clatter on the cold hard floor called the attention of the few staff left to fight. Chris, who had been running after the trail in hopes of finding Dilan, saw the grate looked up. "My, god, they're right above us!" He ran back to warn the others and told them of his assumption.

Dilan had crawled to a point in the vent where the area widened out a bit more and he could stand up, not straight but now he didn't have to crawl either. Suddenly he heard a few skittering sounds, though the echo of the tunnels made it hard to tell where it came from. He glanced around furtively, a subtle chill pricked the hair on the back of his neck as he continued onward, hoping it was just another trick of his mind. A rumbling could be heard in the distance and a breeze blew hair wet with sweat out of his face. It only brought a slight terror in his mind, a terror that grew with the noise and the wind. He decided that the best hope was to follow the current, and pray he found the end of the air ducts before all of the fans came on.

As the breeze picked up, he started slide with it, then he felt himself being swept away. The air whirled around him, thrashing him about as he passed from one dark passage to another, as he instinctively flailed his arms in search of something to grasp onto; but there was nothing. Nothing but the feeling of falling through the darkness. Nothing but the wind howling all around.

Every now and again there was a streak of light from a passing vent but he never got close enough to save himself. Tiny yellow lights lined the walls, peaking at him from the dark depths but they only lasted a moment before he flew on. As he hit one of the walls however the tiny lights came loose, flying passed him as they too were swept away in the strong current. It appeared that some of the others took note of this and let go, attempting to reach the man in their midst. Being so light weight unfortunately made them fly faster, missing him despite their efforts. As they flew on ahead, many tried to save themselves by grabbing onto the fan ahead. With so many, the clogged blades stood still and they waited as their victim flew onward.

Dilan saw what the beasts were up to. The heartless weren't hard to predict, not for him anyway. He pushed off one of the vent walls and aimed at the horde feet first, plowing straight through the mass and breaking the fan itself. The creatures didn't get him, though try as they may to latch onto him, he kicked them away. Now, however, there was a new danger captured by the swift current: the blades. Dilan managed to capture one for himself and used it to the best of his protection from the others. Suddenly he heard a soft rumbling sound, different from the roar of the wind, and twisted around to where he could look ahead. A large pair of eyes glared at him from the darkness before him; but the lighted thin bars of light behind it gave Dilan the much needed hope that he had finally reached the end of his turmoil. "One last test, if not THE TEST." he thought aloud as he angled the blade at the Dark Ball, its jagged mouth wide and ready to swallow him whole.

Dilan awoke to the dead of night, the cool air, his only hint that he had made it outside, and the cold steel in his hand. "Am I alive?" he thought as he strained his eyes to make something of the darkness, "Or did I pass?" The heartless were gone, and he had finally stopped falling through the black abyss at long last. Suddenly he heard footsteps. As his began to make sense of several shapes in the area including the prominent black hooded figure the stopped in front of him. "Dilin, it's been a long time." The figure held out a hand to help him up. "Come, I believe its time we sought out our old friends" Dilan beamed like a Cheshire cat as he gladly took the hand.

Author's Note! (mwahahaha!) Yeah, alot of neat stuff throughout this one. I just thought I'd point out two things right about now... 1) I have nothing against Aeleus, he's just one "victim" who I didn't have a logical death for and therefore I asked a few friends for an idea. BUTTERED TOAST + AELEUS DEATH! snickers 2) that funky move Dilan pulled to get to the vent... yeah, its possible. Saw it in real life, no shit. So yup I just had to use it somewhere, cause it deserves to be known. (Children, do not try this at home... show off at school! 8D)


	7. The Source

A/N: Hey, Everyone, I'm sorry this took so long to get up, but you know how life can be. Since things are getting darker, I'm gonna warn now of the violence. So, like always, please comment.

* * *

**7**

**The Source**

The days had been going normally, and though the weather outside felt below freezing, spirits seemed high at the thought of snow in the area. Snow was always pleasant as it usually meant a day away from school and the ever decreasing temperature caused great excitement amongst the students. Besides, what did they care? Haskell High was nice and toasty, and their homes were probably the same, so many just kept hoping. The faculty, not surprisingly, wasn't much better.

"Okay, guys, round three," the teacher announced as he shook up the shook up the index cards in an emptied messenger bag, pausing as the class gave a few moans. "What? I don't have to do this, I could just hand out study guides and-"

"Read web comics the rest of the hour?" Zane piped up, getting a few giggles from his classmates.

Even frowned. "It's a bit scary you know that," he muttered causing a few more giggles to ring out as he shook his head and placed the bag on his desk. "Now I'm being nice here, kids. I know you don't want to do anything today because of the weather. Heck, I don't want to be here because of the weather."

"Do you want it to snow?" one of the students up front asked in a friendly gesture so he wouldn't give them work to do. It was no secret that Dr. Collins could easily get thrown of subject, and most of his pupils knew it. He never minded on days like this, though, as they weren't in any real hurry on this particular day. After all, it was their loss.

"Uh, you could say yes. I like the cold, snow mostly, but I'm not fond of days like this with the wind and ice, but… yeah." He smiled warmly at the thought of the crisp frosty air before turning back to the class. "Now, that out of the way, is there anything else you want to know?"

Zane raised a hand rather smugly, and spoke without being called on. "Can we leave early?"

The teacher gave a soft smirk, "Of course…… NOT!" No sooner than the words had left his mouth an unusual occurrence came up. A loud bell began to ring throughout the building, causing a student or two to cover their ears. "Or I could be wrong. What is that?"

"I think it's the fire alarm." One of the girls shouted over the noise.

"Hey, Teach, was there supposed to be a drill today?"

Dr. Collins glanced around quickly in sudden thought of telling them he hadn't a clue but there seemed little point to do so. "Alright, everyone, grab your bags, get up, watch yourselves around the Bunsen burners, and follow me." As the students shuffled their way through the door, he made sure grab his book bag before hurrying to the front of the line. As the group traveled down the halls amongst all the other students, everyone knowing from years of routine where to go as the classes melded together, the strange sensation in the air told the doctor that this was not a regular evacuation. Something far more dangerous had entered these halls. No one knew where the screams started first, but many glanced around in bewilderment as the cries grew louder and the mass began to turn back from the scene. People began to panic as black patches formed on the ground and little creatures began to crawl out of the dark classrooms and from around corners in the halls. Even looked back to what few students were still with him and tried to prevent them from scattering, to no avail. He turned back and saw the little monsters taking struggling with those in front and felt a twinge of fear himself. As he began to race towards the stairs, only one thought came to mind, "I got to find Ienzo."

--

Ienzo stepped out of the library in alarm, a large book close in hand, but as he looked out across the mass trying to climb up the stairs, his heart skipped a beat. There, against the wall, as if waiting for some one, stood a familiar figure. Instinctively, Ienzo backed up against the door, body shaking, as the man looked in his direction. He found himself staring back at the man, not so much in terror as in entranced. What was HE doing here?

The youth's thoughts quickly fell through as a hand fiercely shook him by the shoulder. He startled a bit then gazed up in confusion at the red head beside him. "Hey, keep your head in the game," Alex shouted over the noise in his usual playful tone, though his concern still came very clear. "The place is going into lockdown."

"What?"  
"Lockdown, got it? We need to get moving, NOW."

The elder began to lead them towards the crowd, taking no notice of the man, but Ienzo quickly had a different idea. "Everyone's trying to take the main stairway; we can take the smaller one in the library." This time Alex followed his younger companion into the frighteningly empty room, hardly saying a word as the two tried to dash up the spiral metal staircase.

The teens reached the top, high hopes of slipping out into the wintry haven outside, only to find the first hallway already blocked off. Alex gave an agitated look to the bars then shrugged at Ienzo. "Dead end." he smiled falsely, glancing around quickly and taking note of the dark orbs which revealed shadow soldiers ready and waiting. "We under attack or are those things just friends of yours?"

Ienzo honestly wasn't in the mood for questioning at the moment. "Now what are we going to do?"

Alex had no need to think since he already knew what to do. "Come on, I know a shortcut." The two dashed back around the corner, into one of the science labs where Alex quickly lead the way through the large storage closet to another classroom, and into the other hall. "You think we lost them?" he cried out as he glanced back for followers.

"Yeah, I think we lost them." There was little point in trying to explain right now what was happening so he simply took a deep breath from running, then motioned to keep going. "Let's go before they come back!" Unfortunately, when they came out on the other side, he noticed the large metal door for this hallway was starting to lower. 'When did this happen?' the silver hair wondered as he gave a low growl. Though he wasn't scared of the "intruders" he still didn't want to be stuck dealing with them either. In a fierce determination he dashed towards the door with a spurt of energy shouting back for his friend to hurry, and skidding swiftly under the door.

Alex ran up to the door, halting abruptly. "I can't make it under there!" He glanced around for switch or something, then shouted back through the opening. "Just go on, get help, and let someone know I'm up here!"

"But-"

The red head grinned, his bright eyes telling the youth it was all right. "I've had to save your hide more than once, I can take care of myself. Now go." The door shut completely leaving each one of them alone. He had no choice but to do as he was told: find help. He began to trot down the hall at a fast pace and made a mad dash for the door.

Alex took a deep breath. There were only a few up here, if he counted right, and they didn't seem too brave. All he could do now was wait. Ienzo would be back soon, and he'd be rescued. The soft sound of skittering on the empty floor made him still nervous as he remained unprotected, and turned to go back to Dr. Collins' room as he just remembered a fun little lesson to teach the rodents. Upon entering the room he walked steadily down each row, delicately fingering the handles of the faucets gently until he saw the little bugs slide under the door. He began to run down the middle aisle and twisted all of the knobs to full power and watched as several of his pursuers jumped back at the instant flame that leapt out at them, squeaking and hissing in confusion. He turned around only to notice that more of them had snuck up behind him through the hallway entrance. In slight defense, as it had worked before, the teen grasped the handles of the two closest faucets to him and turned them so hard that they broke off in his hands. "Crap..." The ones on this side of the room seemed bolder, more resilient in their call onward, that some actually went straight through the fires. The youth continued to raise the flames in slight hope, laughing nervously as tightened his grip on the handles enough for the individual spikes to stick out between his fingers.

Standing in the middle of the ring of fire he created seemed to be the safest method until he saw the black figures come through. Alex began to sweat, not just because the room was practically in flames, but the monsters were completely unaffected. "No harm, no foul, right?" they didn't respond, unless the one closest taking a swipe at his arm was the response. He had a reflex of his own in which a good strong kick threw the little demon back on the other side of the wall. However, another one quickly took its place. He fought back, striking at his attackers with each blow, not missing one. Unfortunately, they seemed to be growing in numbers, and he only had two hands. It wasn't long before the first one caught him from behind. Prying it off came easily, until they had him surrounded!

One of the creatures, far larger than the rest, reached around his neck, its menacing claws tapped him curiously on the face. Freaked out, he stabbed at it with the small weapon to no avail as it stood almost as tall as him. In his short struggle it didn't take long before two of the shadows latched on to his right arm. Another took hold of his left. The youth strived to pull away but more seemed to show up. "God, you things are pissing me off!" If there was any hope at all of anyone coming at a time like this he could only think of one last attempt. "Help!" He screamed, as he tried to jerk away from the large shadows. As much as he hated having to ask for help this time was dire. "Help! Somebody, can you hear me? Help! Help! He-" The beast behind him stood annoyed, covering the teen's with a nightmarish hand, the other set of claws outstretched across his chest. Instinctively Alex bit down on the hand, but the creature couldn't feel pain, nor did it care, for he couldn't harm it. He staggered slightly, refusing to give in despite the overwhelming heat, regardless of the sudden draining he felt as the monster tear through his shirt and clench the tender flesh beneath. The horrid taste in his mouth nearly made him gag, but he still tried to cry for help; instead only a muffled noise could barely be heard. Alex Hart struggled, jolted and moaned a few last times before slipping away in silence.

--

Ienzo ran furiously down the hall, nervous and confused. Under the normal circumstances, he may have wondered where the mass of darkness came from and why so suddenly, but he noticed something that no one else had.

Surprisingly, the heartless still remained loyal to the young summoner, avoiding him at great costs and taking down all who stood between him in the door. The silver haired boy cursed his luck as he had to find someone, anyone to open the doors for Alex to get out, but who? Everyone around was either on the run or in the middle of being attacked. A strange sensation fell over him, sharp, yet relieving, and a dark aura engulfed around him. He continued to run however in the false hope of escaping the power that pulled him away. With a sudden jolt he hit the obstacle with such a force as to knock him to the ground. "Why do you run from the darkness, from me, Ienzo?" the silken tone came soft yet firm in its authority. Ienzo sat up slowly and gazed into the piercing orange eyes which stared down at him, a hand reached out in a friendly gesture. The boy sneered at the offer, insisting to get to his feet on his own. "Why cause so much pain?" There seemed to be only them now, all else was a blur and faint noises as nothing else mattered but what this nightmare from his childhood had to say.

The man smiled broadly from beneath his hood, the darkness clear in its cheerful gleam. "You haven't changed, Ienzo." The boy turned away from him. "Aren't you surprised to see me?" Though he was surprised, Ienzo couldn't say their meeting was a joyous one. "Why are here, Xehanort? If you took the time to hunt us down, why bother with your minions? It isn't like we could fight back."

The man reached out again to take him by the shoulder, hiding his annoyance as the youth pulled away again. "There was nothing anyone could do for you see, the door has been opened to this world. You could say I've come to take you home."

"I don't want to hear your lies anymore!" the youth snapped, eyes blazing as he swung around to glare at his elder.

The kindness melted away within moments as the figure stood tall and prominent. "I know that you fear the darkness and I need some aid of my own, and your friend is in trouble. Right now you need me as much as I need you. Join me, acknowledge my power, and free yourself from the burdens of this world." He offered his hand one last time, in slight hopes of his young acquaintance providing him with the "aid" he needed.

"Go to Hell." With that, Ienzo threw his back pack at the dark figure, making a run for with what little time he had left.

He had made it clear where he stood and the man looked after him in rage, calling after him in his deep and knowledgeable tone, "Then so be it! I am certain your heartless will prove to be a powerful ally." He faded away into the shadows, his laughter echoing in the suddenly growing darkness beneath the silver haired boy's feet. Wispy black vines climbed up his legs, attempting to drag him down into obscurity and, although he tried to fight back, his struggling only served to further his descent into the abyss below.

Once Ienzo opened his eyes, there appeared to be nothing but extending darkness in every direction. 'Is this the town?' he wondered, his own thoughts echoing about him like the voices of spirits. No, it couldn't be, not yet at least. He attempted to run in the bleakness and found himself rather flowing in invisible currents, frantically trying to find something; anything more than the blackness that surrounded him. It didn't take long before he finally caught sight of a being amid the vastness, but as he rose up behind it, a new fear swept over him. He drifted to a halt, almost as if he had been swimming in the emptiness, and tried to find the courage to youth that came from the shadows themselves. The teen turned around, his bright empty yellow eyes gazed at him menacingly. Ienzo began to stutter at the horrific resemblance, but he asked anyway, "W-who are y-you?"

The boy, if it could be called that, smiled its razor filled grin, "Don't you know? I'm you." The voices swirled surrounded them in disaccorded music. "I am the darkness in your heart and as you can see, there isn't much difference from the true being. How sad." It continued in a slick voice, sultry yet harsh, "But now, face to face, I almost wonder why I even put up with you. You really should have thought this through, and yet, I ought to thank you for your stupidity." The doppelganger looked to its hand, smiling as heartless claws began to form.

Ienzo, himself, finally regained the courage to speak, "No, you don't understand, I-" the heartless merely looked to the claws extending it fingers and, before the boy had a chance to finish, unexpectedly thrust his hand into his counterpart's chest.

"I…just don't care," came the hollow response. The injured teen could only manage a labored sigh at the sudden pain, eyes wide with terror. The creature pulled back, its own eyes beaming with delight in the glow of what followed. Ienzo stared with sheer dread at the dimly lit heart the monster now clutched in its fist. "I got what I need, so I suppose all you're good for now is hanging around here." It held up the heart, releasing a light to open a hole in the darkness. Ienzo reached out his hand as if reaching for the light itself, the other hand grasping at the wound in his chest. The darker version glared at him in disgust as it gradually began to morph into something more, "You had your chance!" It cried as it kicked him in the stomach forcing him to fly away from the light, into the darkness. As the light began to fade, the doppelganger's demonic laughter echoed in the shadowy abyss.

--

Even fought against the crowd, a restlessness growing in his conscience as there seemed to be little hope of finding anyone in the mess struggling up the stairway in hopes of finding sanctuary beyond the school's walls. Unfortunately, most people just pushed the man out of the way as if just one more obstacle. One such case proved to be of more help then harm as he caught a member of the troublesome trio trying to shove him out of the way. As strange as it seemed to see one without the other two, he didn't have time to worry about what became of the others. He was on a mission. "Zain, have you seen Ienzo?" he shouted above the noise.

"Yeah, I've seen him, now move!" the boy tried to shove past him again, using his guitar case to keep a barrier between them, only to have Even abruptly catch him by the arm.

"Where did he go?!"

The boy, in his fear tried to pull away, "him and Red ran for the library like the idiots they are." In his own slight annoyance, he jabbed the guitar case in Even's stomach. "Now let me go, I gotta get out of here!" It didn't hurt, not much anyways, but the doctor released the boy and trotted towards the library.

"At least he has Alex," he thought with a slight sigh of relief, as he entered the large room. He immediately stopped in his tracks at the silence, only catching the faint and muffled cries just outside. The room was still lit, and yet Even found himself more leery about the shadows, upping his pace to pass them by. His ears perked at the sound of heavy breathing causing him to spin around, letting out a sigh of relief to see it was only Demy. Slightly disappointed, Even hurriedly walked over, and grabbed the boy by the arm. "You can't stay here, it's dangerous."

"Well, uh, Doc, what are you doing here?" Demy said slyly. Now really the best time for stupid technicalities. Even didn't answer, didn't get the chance, really, for a large brute settled its gaze on the frozen pair. The teacher let got of his charge as he tried to steady his heart and held up the book bag on his arm like a shield. Demy promptly glanced at the teacher, then stepped behind him. Even glanced behind him to see what Demy was up to then caught sight of a fascinatingly small door behind the reference desk. He also happened to know what it was.

"Demitre, do you see that door near the desk?"

"You, you mean the little window?"

The man nodded, never once taking his eyes away from the large body. "Good. Now, head for the door." The brute stared at them, unsure of what to do. Even was different in a way that held the creature back. As Demy began to run, however, its gaze shifted. The brat it knew what to do with, and therefore it bounded after him. As it rushed passed the doctor, however, Even swung the bag and thwacked the monster in the back, a weak spot he had long known about and watched with slight humor as it lost balance and fell on its fat belly. He ran after Demy, letting out a slight groan at the fact the boy was pulling on the door handle.

Even ran up beside him, jerked up the cover to the nearly stuck waiter shaft, heaven knows how old the thing was, and told Demy to climb in. The youth managed to slip into the compartment, giving a soft yelp as the teacher almost let the tiny elevator shoot downward. The man looked back, seeing that the large brute had gotten to its feet again and decided that it was best not to wait. Pulling himself through the tiny entry way, he slipped into the darkness of the old and dusty shaft, clinging onto the rope, and wishing he had thought this more through. As he shot down the rabbit hole like tunnel, praying the rope didn't snap, Even finally landed on top of the hard wooded box. Able to breathe again, he blew on his hands he just knew had been rope burned. "Alright," he murmured to himself quietly, "as soon as the large body leaves, I'll just climb up and pull up the little miscreant while I'm at it." This vision, unfortunately, was short lived. There came a squeaking sound, an odd, uncomforting squeal, followed by the lowering of the elevator. The rope was breaking. "…Figures."

Even wasn't sure what to think, a first in a long while for him, and simply placed his hands on the walls in hopes of being able to save him self. When the ground vanished from below, he found himself sliding down, unable to cling to the slick and cobwebbed shaft; until there was a sudden hole in the wall, which he barely managed to grab onto the side. He didn't have any way to lift himself up though, and knew he couldn't hang onto the side of the doorway much longer.

A hand reached in and grabbed the back of his coat. "Hey, Teach!" He looked up, and saw Demy halfway into the shaft, attempting to lend a hand. A slight smile spread across Even's face as he was never so happy to see the boy in his life, and swung his other arm to the hole, taking hold of the student's hand and finally made it out of the pit.

With his feet firmly on the ground, the man dusted himself off as he began to look around at the warehouse like room with dozens of shelves and cabinets as far as they could hope to see. It went on for quite a ways too. He looked back down to the youth, a bit ashamed for what happened. "I'm really sorry about." He began, "I shouldn't have risked your life like that."

Demy smirked, "I'm not the one who was dangling in some crusty, tiny, elevator shaft either." He began to glance around the unfamiliar room in the soft flashes of the alarm light. "Where do you think we are?"

The teacher had to take a guess. If he didn't know, he knew that when this was all over Demy would never let him live it down. "I think we are in the official basement part of the school. This appears to be part of the older, original building from which all the rest of Haskell was added on to."

Demy, not really sure what to say to that, just shrugged. He then looked back at the empty shaft where the wooden box he rode in was supposed to be and a new problem came to mind. "So, uh, Teach, how we gonna get back up?"

With his first plan almost literally shot down, Even didn't have the slightest clue. "Well… if this room is made for storage, someone had to put all this here too. There must be a staircase or something down here." The two started to go on their way, jumpy as cats, and trying every thing they could imagine to blot out the ruckus just above. The screams, the thunderous footsteps racing across the 'roof', Even knew that the louder it got, the closer they must be to an entrance.. Demy, simply found himself walking ever more closely to the chemistry teacher and glancing around at the shadowy underground.

At long last they came upon sight of a light, a large green light in fact, and the two began to rush over in hopes of an emergency exit of some sort. A few short gasps came as the pair rounded the corner and found several frightened teens huddled around the beam of light on the floor. "Ghost!" cried out one of the girls, staring in terror at the distorted figures in the swirling green light. The teacher let out a soft sigh.

Demy let out a slightly nervous laugh at the unexpected welcome. "We're not dead-"

"Not yet, anyway," one of the boys finished, knowing that was what he going to say.

Demy looked up in surprise, taking a guess as to that familiar voice, "Hey, Billy, is that you?"

The ghostly face grinned back at him, nodded and asked him to sit down. Dr. Collins finally dug out a keychain flashlight and took a moment to see just who all was down there. Demy, Kim and Billy he all knew from class, but the three others were new faces. Still, introductions would have to wait as the noise upstairs made most too jumpy to think straight. "What are you all doing down here, shouldn't you be, I don't know, fleeing the place for your lives or something?" He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking how he could have worded that better, then shrugged it off as it was too late now.

Kim spoke softly, but she was the only one to respond. "There were so many people, and I thought there was an emergency exit down here but, there's nothing." She looked to the ceiling as the alarm continued to blare throughout the rest of the building, rather muffled in the basement area. "We found out that those things won't come down here though, so we stayed."

An unfamiliar voice continued, "Yeah, we think it has something to do with the weird light thingy. I don't think it was here before, or, you know, no one seems to know what it is so we're staying here until this all blows over."

The man took another look around the room, weighed his options at the moment and finally took a seat, tensing up just as much as the students with the next wave of odd and discerning noises. "Alright then…" he began as relief came again, still giving a wary glance to the noise above, "we'll stay."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, things just got darker for our heroes, especially now that we know who's behind the attacks. I just want to say sorry to the characters too while I'm at it. Like everyone else, I don't own KH or its characters, they're just fun to use.


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